After spending more than five years jumping from city to city as a TV news reporter in the 1990s, journalist Michael Costa steered his career toward the kitchen. He returned to his hometown of Chicago, attending culinary school at night while working in the kitchen of a large downtown hotel during the day.

Today he combines all of his experience as Industry Relations Editor at Hotel F&B magazine. As locally sourced food becomes a permanent expectation for diners, Michael has noticed hotel chefs everywhere are responding with onsite gardens to supply their menus, even in urban and not-so-sunny locations.